Council of Agriculture Chairman Lee Chin-lung (李金龍) has tendered his resignation twice over the past two days, but will stay on to take responsibility for the Alishan train crash, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
"The premier didn't approve Lee's resignation because the accident didn't result from faulty decision-making by Lee but from careless execution," Lin quoted Premier Yu Shyi-kun as saying yesterday.
Yu made the remark during a closed-door meeting where he listened to the briefing on the accident presented by the agriculture council, interior ministry, health department and defense ministry.
According to Lin, Lee tendered his resignation, both verbally and in writing, twice since the accident took place on Saturday.
Instead of quitting, Lin said, Lee should focus on how to prevent similar accidents from happening again.
Bowing to the public to express his personal apology, Lee yesterday also took the opportunity to dismiss media reports that the accident took place because the four-carriage train was overloaded.
"Records show that 1,073 tickets were sold that day. In other words, there was an average of 179 passengers in each of the six trains that went up the mountain that day. However, each train can carry 200 people," he said.
Lee yesterday also revealed the names of council officials who have been held responsible for the accident.
Huang Yu-hsing (黃裕星), director of the agriculture council's forestry bureau, was transferred to a non-administrative position. He offered his resignation on the day of the accident.
Huang's position will be temporarily filled by Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生), the bureau's deputy director.
In addition, Hung Ming-chuan (洪明川), director of the forestry management office in Chiayi County, will be transferred to a technician's position. Deputy director Yung Chao-shun (楊昭勳) will temporarily take over Hung's position.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS